good question. I was asked by my graduate advisor, way back, what was quintessentially Korean and what was learnt from elsewhere. Wow, that blew me away back in 96' not having much on the ground experience in Korea. What is 100% Korean, and what is not. Really try to answer that question and nothing comes up, not even the korean alphabetical script hungul. What is Korean is the way of thinking, the spirit, the view of life which is different from other cultures. Materially, Korea doesnt offer that much.

To be serious.
Most of the snazzy wireless telecommunication technology used in Korea seemed to be invented elsewhere and then commercialized in Japan first and then in Korea.

I talked to a guy working at a Baby Bell lab in Edmonton. He made a similar observation. He was invited as a adjunct professor to a Korean university for an exchange program with the University of Alberta. To summarize his comments about Korean universities:while the research efforts at universities in North America focus on coming up with a innovative, new technology or algorithms for it, etc, Korean university researchers borrowed the technology developed in the west to fine-tune for commercial applications.

what people don't realize is that most science/engineering pioneered in the "west" are actually done by foreigners who have come abroad to study and make a living. have you guys ever checked out most engineering laboratories in the U.S. these days? most are staffed by researchers of foreign origin. the projects are simply FUNDED by western companies. the actual work/innovation is done by the foreigners....meanwhile the credit and $$$ goes to the west.

Trinny wrote:

Girls. Some of the guys here never stop adoring.

To be serious.
Most of the snazzy wireless telecommunication technology used in Korea seemed to be invented elsewhere and then commercialized in Japan first and then in Korea.

I talked to a guy working at a Baby Bell lab in Edmonton. He made a similar observation. He was invited as a adjunct professor to a Korean university for an exchange program with the University of Alberta. To summarize his comments about Korean universities:while the research efforts at universities in North America focus on coming up with a innovative, new technology or algorithms for it, etc, Korean university researchers borrowed the technology developed in the west to fine-tune for commercial applications.

what people don't realize is that most science/engineering pioneered in the "west" are actually done by foreigners who have come abroad to study and make a living. have you guys ever checked out most engineering laboratories in the U.S. these days? most are staffed by researchers of foreign origin. the projects are simply FUNDED by western companies. the actual work/innovation is done by the foreigners....meanwhile the credit and $$$ goes to the west.

what people don't realize is that most science/engineering pioneered in the "west" are actually done by foreigners who have come abroad to study and make a living. have you guys ever checked out most engineering laboratories in the U.S. these days? most are staffed by researchers of foreign origin. the projects are simply FUNDED by western companies. the actual work/innovation is done by the foreigners....meanwhile the credit and $$$ goes to the west.

Foreigners yes, but educated in the west.

Not really. Its was a huge problem in places like India and china because the goverment would subsidize their education and then they would go to work for tech companies in the west, leaving their home countries with few educated people. Its getting better though because companies have started to pop up that can compete with the westerners.

I think it comes down to the question of what is the definition of the brains. In this context, when the newspaper is talking about brain drain, it probably refers to software programmers, electronic engineers or people with hard, tangible skills (as opposed to soft skills in liberal arts).

I will give you an example in computer field, which is largely based on my personal observation, and thus I stand to be corrected.

I found that software engineering or system engineering are not easy subjects, but not a rocket science, either. Anyone who likes problem solving, doesn't mind spending a lot of time in front of computers and keeps practicing any given computer language consistently can be a software or system engineer.

That being said, developing algorithms to get a specific task done or developing new computer languages is a totally different game than just being a software engineer who is a user of the language. Software engineers or web coders abound all over the world, being in China, Russia, or Vietnam. If you write an application, sure you can hire these engineers from foreign countries. However, the most of works to develop behind-the-scene mechanisms that will facilitate job of these engineers have been done in the west, so far.

The comment of commercializing telecommunications in Korea/Japan is so true. The big telcos and electronics companies in Europe and North America love testing, jointly with local companies, stuff in Korea and Japan. It used more in Japan, but these days its cheaper to do most of the testing in Korea. The advantage is the population density, the already build up telecom infrastructure and the relative stability compared to other asian countries. Cost is probably the biggest factor in determining were to test. Although, if countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam ever get more stable and build up their infrastructure and education the companies will start moving their testing to those countries.

To be serious.
Most of the snazzy wireless telecommunication technology used in Korea seemed to be invented elsewhere and then commercialized in Japan first and then in Korea.

I talked to a guy working at a Baby Bell lab in Edmonton. He made a similar observation. He was invited as a adjunct professor to a Korean university for an exchange program with the University of Alberta. To summarize his comments about Korean universities:while the research efforts at universities in North America focus on coming up with a innovative, new technology or algorithms for it, etc, Korean university researchers borrowed the technology developed in the west to fine-tune for commercial applications.

again, copying whatever japanese style, but not quite hitting the mark.